Lever.



C. SII/IIII-I` LEVER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. I6, I9I5.

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atented July 25, 1916 1mm/ron Oe/w SMF/7;

B y M1 144A/H50 vcitizen oithev United States,

unanime SMITH, or nouenron, monteert.

To all whom may concern."`

Be it known that I, CHARMS SMITH, a

and a resident iof Houghton, in the county' of Houghton engage'one of the teeth of adapted tobe actuated lImpro'vement in Levers, ing 1s a s pecificatio andf'Stateof Michigan, have invented an of which the follow.-

h1s-1nvention is an improvement in le- Vers and has lparticular reference to an emergencyv brake lever employed on automobiles. Heretofore, it has been a common prac.-

Specification of Letters Patent. eppneation lmea August 1e,

vtice'to associate `a.,toothed` segment with aj le'ver, `the latter carrying a pawl adapted to the segment to retain lthe lever-n braking position.

The present invention improvement upon the above construction and includes anovel locking'device Iin the form of a clutch pivoted of the |lever and normally held in locking enga ement with a .pivoted bar by spring mem ers" SQured tovsaid main portion and to releasev said locking device., p f

Another 'object of the invention is the provision. of-a' lever of this'rcharacter whichis simple in construction, easy `to manufacture, durable, and effective in'carrying out the purposel for which it is designed.

heinventive idea involved is capable of receiving a variety of tmechanical expressions, some lof which, for the purpbse of lillustrating the invention, arey shown inthe accompanyingdrawing, in whichigurel isa'side elevation of a lever constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is.` an edge elevation thereof partly broken away andshown in section. Fig. 3

l 1s la transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.k Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view 4of the clutch member employed in connec- 'tion with the invention. Fig. 5 is an eleva- 'tion of a vention showing the lever employed asa foot slightly modified form of the inoperated device. Fig.vv 6 is an edge elevatio of another slightly modified form. y

ferring tothe drawing and moreparticu arly4 to Figs. 1 to 4t inclusive, the numeral 10 indicates a portion of the chassis of an automobile to which is pivoted at 11 the mam portion 12 of ,the emergency brake lever, the lower end thereof being connected to the brake rod 13 'in the usual manner. The lower end of the main .portion 12v adjacent the pivot '11 is recessed as indicated i y ananner as lto permit- 1s designedas an to the mainx portion.

, rod at wthe `portion 12 so that at 14"'tp receive a clutch'lmember 15 having Patented 1915. serialivofemoa.

" l Y, preferably formed integral therewith the pivot pins x16 which engage 1n a housing' 17 securedtolone side of the mainportion 12' as best illustrated in Fig. 2, thus pivotally con meeting-saidA clutchme'mber rto tion of the lever.

formed 4from a fiat preferably tapered from its pivoted endto the free end thereof :and Tis provided cen'` trally with a similarly tapered 'substantially pear-shaped.' opening 18 through' which .a bar 19 is'adapted to extend.I This bar 19 is curvedand p'ivoted at one,V end to a bracket 2O which'i's securedto the chassis 10 in such of a slight lateral movement of the bar 19 relative to the main portion"12 fora purposevvhich will appear in the course of the description.v

The clutch vmember 15 is adapted to normally engage thebar 1 9 so as to lock the lever 1nl any adjustedv position and in so engaging saidbar the edges of the opening 18 in the clutph member. will This clutch member is three pointso t'lcontactl since said clutch' member extends yat duan oblique..angle to the main portion` 12 whenV in locking position as shown inl Figs. '1 and3.' The clutch member 15 is normally held in locking position by meaps of an elongated lia-t spring member 21 secured atene end 22 to the up per end of ythe mainportin 12 and having at its lowler end the bifurcation 23 which straddles said clutch member between the bar 19 and said main .por-tion.. The member 21 is twisted at 24 to give the same the proper `resiliency and adjacent said twisted portion is engaged 'by means o.lugs 25 car rie by an auxiliary lever 26 pivoted at 27 to e main portion 12. The upper end of the lever 26 is arranged adjacent the handle of both may be 'easily grasped in order to 'actuate the spring member when it is desired to release the clutch rnemberv By operating the lever 26 the lower end of the spring member 21 will be thrown to the right as shown in Fig. 1 when the clutch memberl will be moved to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. This will disengage the edges of the opening 18 from the bar 19 and permit of the free swinging ofthe main .pivot 11v so as to actuate the brake rod 13 as desired. When the clutch member 15 swings aboutits pivot the inner end of the opening 18 which engages the bar 19 will have a tendency to force said bar outwardly July 25, 1916.;

bind against said portion 12 about itsl piece of metal'and is 'y but being adapted to engage the curved bar and it is for this reason'that said bar is pivoted at one end so as to move laterally relative to the main portion 12. When the main portion has been adjusted to proper braking position release of the lever 26 will cause thespring member to throw the clutch member to the full line position in Fig. 2 when the l edges of the opening 18 will againbind against the bar 19 and effectively retain the brake in adjusted position.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a slight modiicajy tion of the invention wherein there is em ployed a foot operated lever including-the main portion 12 having va clutch` member 15 pivoted thereto and constructed in the same manner as the clutch member in Fig. 4,

19, pivoted at 20. The clutch member 15. is

similarly actuated by aspring member. 21

which is operated when engaged by the foot of the operator.

In Fig. 6-there is shown a slight modification in the construction in which the spring member 21 Vis secured to the clutch member 15 at 27, instead of being rovided with a bifurcation as in the embo iment shown in Fig. 1.

What is claimed is v 1. In combination, an arcuate bar pivoted at oneend, a lever associated with said bar and including a main portion, a clutch member pivoted to said portion and adapted to y normally lock the same in engagement with other end provided with a bifurcation adapty said bar, and a spring member secured at one end to sald main portlon and having 1ts ing adapted to receive said bar, vthe edges of the clutch member around said opening `being adapted to engage said bar at three points of Contact to retain the same in lock-- ing position.

3. In combination, a bar, alever associated therewith, a p ivoted clutch member having its axis of rotation parallel with said lever and provided With an opening adapted to receive said bar and bind against the same,

and means engaging said clutch member for retaining the same in locking position.

4e. In combination, a curved bar pivoted at one end, a lever associated therewith, a clutch member pivoted to said'lever and eX- tending laterally therefrom, said clutch memberbeing provided with a tapered opening. adapted to receive saldbar, the edges of .said cluteh member around said opening normally binding-against said bar to retain the lever inlocking position, and means for shifting said clutch member whereby to move said bar about its pivot and release the clutch. A

p 'CHARLES SMITH.

l Witnesses: 'y

. l THos. S. SMITH,

JOSEPH WlMMER. 

